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Forevermore

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Armed with progressive anthems and songs propelled by a sense of utter urgency, Forevermore, who are newly signed to Solid State Records, are on a focused, metallic mission.

The individual members of Forevermore may be familiar to fans of Christian metal. Vocalist Kramer Lowe did time in Onward to Olympas, while guitarists Alex Smith and Jared Storm were members of The Onset prior to Forevermore. Bassist Michael Taylor played guitar in Wings of Martyr. While the members cut their teeth in other projects, Forevermore has proven to be the outlet for which they were destined.

"None of our old bands were great, but I feel like we have been able to combine some of the best elements of each of our old bands into the Forevermore sound," Storm muses.

That "Forevermore sound" he speaks of is guitar-driven -- a post-metalcore style played with surgical precision. Telos, the band’s upcoming record and label debut, offers up thinking man's metal that will also satisfy the simpler urges of the headbanger that prefers a visceral and physical listening experience.

"The whole philosophy and the writing mentality for this band is to attempt to create music which strikes a balance between being interesting and enjoyable," Storm says, breaking their collective approach down to its base parts. "We want our songs to have enough creative elements to intrigue more analytical listeners while retaining enough intensity, feel and melody to appeal to a wider, more casual audience. Most of our favorite metal bands have been ones which have managed to incorporate both sides of this equation to a high degree, and our goal is to try to achieve this balance through a unique combination of elements from various metal subgenres."

"Telos" is Greek for end, purpose or goal. "The album attempts to draw the listener's attention towards things that are of greatest importance, and to challenge them to consider one’s life in light of its ultimate goal or purpose," Storm explains. "On a deeper level, it raises the question of whether one’s life does indeed have any ultimate purpose or significance; a question for which the answer is largely dependent on one’s fundamental worldview or beliefs about ultimate reality. The concept that the word 'Telos' encapsulates should prompt us to consider the implications that our fundamental worldview has on these questions about life’s ultimate purpose, and to reflect on how they should influence the way we live our lives."

The song "Force Fed" was a bit of an experiment that forced Storm out of his songwriting comfort zone.
"In the past I have always written using a program called TabIt, which allows you to tab out and playback compositions in MIDI," he explains. "But during the writing process for this album, I began to demo out some ideas with real instruments to get a better idea of how the final product would actually sound. 'Force Fed' was the first song that I’ve written solely by recording the ideas as I write them rather than putting them into TabIt. This method has its pros and cons, but the main benefit is that it reduces the problem that comes from trying to imagine how songs written in MIDI will actually end up sounding with real instruments."

"The Great Divide," became a song close the the band’s heart, as it represents the highest degree of collaboration between Sammy, Michael and Jared in terms of how the instrumentation was written. "We each contributed multiple parts within the song, and as a result, it turned out to be fairly dynamic as it moves from section to section. It was important to have the lead guitar riff from the very beginning reappear at multiple points in the song to give it a sense of cohesiveness despite the diversity between some of our riffs."

Then there is "The Wager," which wasn't initially intended for Forevermore, since it didn't quite fit the band's style. "It was purely the product of being struck with inspiration," Storm says. "As the other songs started to come together, I thought that it would provide some variety, and I really like how it sounds within the flow of the entire album." It also taught him an extremely valuable lesson – that you can stretch and flex your creative muscles without betraying your signature sound. "Through writing this song, I began to learn that it can be beneficial to sort of free myself from trying to write within the 'Forevermore sound' and just let ideas flow in any direction that inspiration takes me."

Telos releases July 22nd, and will be an intense and intricate listen for heavy music fans worldwide. Forevermore recognizes their purpose, and is ready to share it with the world.